Slovenia, which has already obtained a special EU status for 12 of its traditional food products, filed on 18 February its bid for "kranjska klobasa" to be granted the protected designation of origin (PDO).

Under the EU law, other countries are given six months to dispute the bid for granting the PDO status. To be granted the status, the product must have qualities and characteristics which are essentially due to its region of production; it must also be produced, processed and prepared exclusively within that region.

Croatia's dispute over kranjska klobasa comes after Slovenia and Austria reached a preliminary agreement on their dispute over the sausage, which allows the sausage to be produced in Austria under certain conditions.

Once the Commission has established whether the potential appeals are justified, it will call on the countries involved to reach an agreement within six months. If that fails, the Commission will re-examine the application with the help of an expert committee.

The Agriculture Ministry told the STA on Thursday that it did not know the contents of Croatia's appeal and would thus not comment on it.